Winter From My Wings
by SE46 Mantis
Summary: With the dragon came winter, a winter that would see Arendelle condemned to a cold bitter fate. But where swords and spears had failed, perhaps the persistent princess and an exuberant concept of diplomacy may yet succeed in revealing the heart of the Ice Dragon. AU, Elsanna.


_Author's Notes: Recently watched Frozen and I utterly adored it. Marvellous film it was, with gorgeous visuals, delightful songs, colourful characters and a refreshing message of familial love overcoming hardship._

_So, on a whim, I decided to write an AU. Bizarre circumstance, in which Elsa is a dragon rather than a princess, but it was an amusing thought nevertheless. I hope you enjoy reading this story as I will writing it._

* * *

The Ice Dragon came on a beautiful summer day. The titanic body gleamed white in the sunlight, a deep blue underbelly shimmering like a thousand shards of ice, and its size was such that when it passed Arendelle, the whole kingdom was bathed in its shadow. The people fled for shelter when they spotted it swooping over the fjord, screaming and weeping as the beast flew overhead, but thankfully it was not interested in the kingdom; winds rushing from the titanic wings, the dragon veered upwards towards the North Mountains, and vanished into the distance.

But alas, any physical gesture of violence from the beast was not necessary to bring pain to Arendelle; with the dragon came the most devastating winter in all its time.

The sky darkened, the clouds intensified, and from the clouds sprang blizzards, blizzards that raged on endlessly and covered the kingdom in a never-ending swirl of white. The fjord froze over, the sun disappeared, the snow built up upon the ground and roofs and it seemed the entire world had become consumed by the cold.

Naturally, this put Arendelle in a perilous situation. The fjord frozen, they could not trade with other regions, could not evacuate the citizens aboard the ships and they could not fish. The fields covered in snow, the crops were ruined, unable to grow, and the animals that fed on them in turn would also perish. And if starvation did not kill the people, the cold itself would.

Ice harvesters from the North Mountains came to the stricken kingdom however, bringing with them a source of hope. The dragon, the icy beast that had brought this unending storm, had settled itself by the feet of the mountains, enclosing itself within a gigantic castle of ice. A basic plan made itself apparent; If the dragon could be slain, then surely the winter would end, and there would certainly be no troubles finding it given the extravagant nature of its current abode.

The King and Queen made their decision quickly; brave soldiers and missionaries were deployed across the ice to summon help, find anyone who could provide food, drink, firewood and possibly anyone who could slay a dragon both immense in size and overwhelming in icy powers. By luck, other territories were also aware of the beast's passing, and Arendelle found assistance much sooner than they had expected.

The only problem was, while the blizzards eventually settled down into calmer snowfall and the kingdom was able to receive aid from dedicated territories transporting necessary supplies, none of the knights and warriors and soldiers who went to confront the dragon succeeded. They either returned in disgrace, having been forced to retreat with their armour coated in ice and their weapons shattered, or they simply didn't return at all.

Arendelle could survive, but alas, so could the dragon. Two months passed, and the intense stand-off between the kingdom and the intruder continued. With its sheer size and power, plus its mastery of ice, it seemed no force on Earth could ever hope to overcome the Ice Dragon.

* * *

Princess Anna had had a rather double-edged childhood. On the one hand, being a child of royalty had granted her access to all of the glorious comforts an up-and-coming ruler could desire, from all kinds of exotic foods to a massive library crammed full of stories and notes and essays to a massive ballroom that was perfect to dance and bounce and ride her bike within. On the other hand, she was easily stricken by illnesses; a hefty amount of her childhood had been spent bedridden, blazing hot or freezing cold, sneezing violently or barely able to breathe.

No wonder the castle's gates had remained closed for so long; with a child so easily vulnerable, her parents didn't want to risk anymore diseases infiltrating the castle than was necessary, and this in turn, whilst at least ensuring Anna's health was more secure, had denied her much chance of ever getting out, making friends and enjoying the bustling, cheerful and wonderful kingdom.

Still, she had grown to be a very exuberant and optimistic girl, and when she wasn't downtrodden by whatever ailment had struck her, she seemed to dance and dart around the castle with the kind of youthful energy that seemed to run on forever. And as she had gotten older, the illnesses struck her less, affected her less potently, and her health only continued to improve.

Oh, when her eighteenth birthday swung round, she'd been so excited at the idea that maybe the gates could be opened soon and she could finally go out into Arendelle and see it all for herself at last! And then the dragon had come, and she'd been stuck inside the castle for two months as the snow overtook the kingdom. Understandably, she was a tad, shall we say, frustrated at this turn of events.

But she was nevertheless exuberant. She was nevertheless optimistic. And she was also quite headstrong and persistent and prone to crazy thoughts. And these traits combined into perhaps the most insane idea anyone in Arendelle had ever spawned.

"I want to go and talk to the dragon."

Her parents, understandably, immediately rejected the idea, on the accounts that it was a monster, it would kill her, the cold might kill her before she even got close, she couldn't go up the mountain, what if the snow made her sick, she was better off remaining where she was, where it was safe.

But as aforementioned, Anna was persistent, and when she had what she felt was a good idea, she held onto it with all the intensity of a serpent coiling around its prey. So she kept pressing her point: "Not all dragons are dumb, right? Some of them are said to be smart, they can talk and stuff, and it's not like this one is actually trying to kill us all, it's just lazing about in its palace! If I can just talk to it, maybe try some royal diplomacy or something, maybe I can convince it to stop the winter or leave or…. Or something."

After all, it wasn't like they had any other choice. Fewer and fewer warriors came to challenge the beast, once its record of victories became more pronounced, and it had shown no intent of leaving anytime soon. The only time it ever left its palace, the only times Anna had seen it so far, was when it went on a lazy flight. Sometimes it just glided around and then returned to its abode, sometimes it swooped down and snatched an unlucky animal. Once, it had even been daring enough to snatch a horse from the royal stables.

Now, Anna wasn't exactly well versed in the study of animals, but she was pretty sure a dragon would need a lot more food than one horse to sustain its massive body. But then, maybe the manipulation of ice and weather wasn't the only ability the beast possessed.

Regardless, it took two weeks of pestering, of begging, for the princess to finally, finally convince her parents that she should at least try and communicate with the beast. Her father had insisted that he should be the one to confront the Ice Dragon, but Anna pointed out that Arendelle needed its monarchs more than a sickly princess; if the dragon did kill her, at least the kingdom would not be left without leadership. Forced to concede, all the King and Queen could do now was prepare their daughter to face the Ice Dragon and wish her all the best.

Wrapped up in at least three layers of warm dresses and cloaks and furry socks and scarves, a fur-lined basket stuffed with food and drink (all individually wrapped up to protect them from the cold), and granted a sword from the blacksmith if the monster did try to attack her, Princess Anna deemed herself ready to journey to the North Mountains, to the icy castle amongst them, and confront the beast face-to-face.

Was she nervous? Of course; she was to face a titan who had defeated every other challenger before her and somehow try to convince it to leave the kingdom. But at this point, two months into the unending winter, she figured that she really didn't have much left to lose.

This wasn't an entirely isolated operation, though; obviously needing swift transport to the mountain (and hopefully back from it), a large but gentle young man named Kristoff was selected to transport her to the dragon's castle. He was a nice guy, albeit quite distant and sarcastic, and his pet reindeer Sven was a positively adorable animal, as friendly and welcoming as a dog and apparently amazingly strong, given the fact he could drag a whole sleigh and its passengers up a mountain in record time.

As ready as she'd ever be, somewhat finding it ironic that the chance she'd gotten to leave the castle was just to end up at another one containing a big monster, Anna bid her parents farewell, giving them the tightest and warmest hugs she could manage and promising she'd at least come back alive, and she hopped into the sleigh. Kristoff gripped the reins tightly and Sven set off, the citizens of Arendelle waving their princess goodbye, hollering their wishes of luck and hope to her as the sleigh sped off across the fjord towards the forest.

As they rode, Kristoff forced an obvious concern to her: "Do you really think you can convince that dragon to stop flooding us with blizzards? I mean, you've probably seen the state of the people who actually came back alive from trying to fight it."

She just folds her arms and huffs: "But I'm not gonna try and fight it, I'm gonna try and talk to it. There is a difference between aggression and negotiation, you know."

"That's if it's even intelligent, if it can even talk, never mind understand and debate with you."

He's got a point there, so she just falls back on the classic defensive she'd used when trying to convince her parents: "It's still worth a try, right? It's not like we can do much else besides try and fight it or survive the winter and stuff. I mean, what can I lose from trying to talk to it?"

"Your life?"

"Assuming the blizzards don't get me first."

He gives a dry chuckle at that: "Good point. Well, I just wish I had your optimism; the way things have turned out, I'm surprised anyone can muster up hope at this point. The other kingdoms have to be getting tired of sending us supplies all the time, especially since we can't exactly trade anything back, and I'm pretty sure this dragon isn't going to be leaving anytime soon, chat or no chat."

Anna doesn't reply, fiddling with her gloves a bit. That was a growing concern, actually, the possible diminishment of sympathy from the other kingdoms. What point was there in trying to sustain a place that had no hope of fighting off the beast that had condemned it so? It would just be an endless of cycle of all giving, no receiving, and even the kindest heart could not support that for long.

Quite frankly, this chance she had to try and negotiate with the Ice Dragon could well be the last chance for all of Arendelle, and she felt quite a bit overwhelmed. She curled up a bit, refusing to let the cold get to her (or at least, doing her best to), and they rode in silence. Now and then, they would exchange a few words, perhaps on the subject of the lack of animals in the area or when to have a quick break for snacks and what not, but they were otherwise lost in their thoughts.

Kristoff had to admit, he didn't entirely feel comfortable about this trip. Having to take someone clearly unused to the cold environment to a mountain practically dedicated to being cold was one thing, given his general dislike of working with others (it was much more efficient to rely only on himself and Seven, to be honest), but essentially delivering a poor girl to a dragon was another bag of worms entirely. If the creature did eat her, he'd have to spend the rest of his life being 'that guy who took a poor girl to a dragon and couldn't stop it eating her', and that wouldn't be any good at all.

But as she said; what else could they do? Violence hadn't gotten rid of the dragon, so perhaps diplomacy might stand a better chance. Besides, he heard a few stories about how fair maidens were easier to for magical creatures to tolerate, so maybe the dragon would be less inclined to kill her than it would a knight. He hoped so, at least. Even an ice-harvester like him could only tolerate endless winter for so long, and obviously the whole not wanting to be 'that guy who took a poor girl to a dragon and couldn't stop it eating her'.

It took a fair while to reach the mountains; strong as he was, even Sven couldn't ascend the icy climb that quickly. But he had powered through it with impressive pace, especially after the brief break the group had had (featuring Anna recoiling in disgust when Kristoff ate a carrot Sven had already slobbered on and a few snow puns to lighten the mood a tad). And when they'd reached the mountains, specifically at the base of the forefront of the titanic peaks, Anna's jaw dropped.

Nestled between two titanic peaks within a massive valley was the gigantic castle of ice the dragon had created. An enormous structure, it gleamed bright blues and whites in the dim sunlight that could breach the clouds and all across the sleek walls were all kinds of decorations seamlessly blended into it, of snowflakes and mythic creatures and treasures, and sharp towers protruded from the castle into the sky like an array of upright blades. It was impossibly large, amazingly intricate and stunningly beautiful.

Kristoff had already seen it before, but that hardly diminished the sheer majesty of the structure, and Anna was utterly overwhelmed.

Finally, the princess spoke, a soft murmur: "So, given that it's made this whole castle with awesome structural stability, gorgeous carvings and all sorts of decorations, do you still think the dragon's unintelligent?"

He hadn't thought of it like that and he ended up shaking his head. Only a master artist could carve such stunning details into ice like that, and this dragon had done it with a flick of its claws. He almost wanted to cry.

Mustering her courage, wrapping her cloak around herself and making sure her sword was securely sheathed, Princess Anna murmured: "Well, here I go. Wish me luck."

"You… you sure you don't want us to come with you-"

"No, Kristoff. If it…. If it is hungry, at least you can get back to the castle and let them know what happened, right? Just… wait here for like, an hour or something, and I'm not out by then, you might as well assume it's eaten me."

He blanched: "An hour?! You honestly expect me to sit out here in the cold for an hour waiting to see whether or not some monster ate the princess?!"

She huffed: "I don't know how long it takes to bargain with a dragon, okay? It could take ages, it could take minutes, I don't even know!"

"But what if I get attacked by wolves or something?!"

"Kristoff, we're standing at the entrance of a giant dragon's ice castle. I'm pretty sure that dragons are a lot higher on the food chain than wolves, so I don't think there's going to be any of them coming by here." She replied, now a tad amused by his horror. "If I can get out sooner, or alive, I will, okay? Just keep your spirits up, alright? Maybe build a snowman or something, building snowmen always cheers me up!"

He just stared at her in disbelief, but before he argue further she started off towards the castle. There was a bridge of ice, wide and thick, probably strong enough to support the dragon itself, connecting the castle's massive doorway to the ridge they were by, and this proved to be Anna's first obstacle. Even in her boots, the ice was awfully slippery, and there weren't any railings to grip onto.

Still, she presses on, slipping and sliding over the ice, keeping to the centre of the bridge lest she end up careening off the edges, and the enormous gates of the ice castle loom before her. Slowly, tentatively, she manages to reach the doorway and pauses; they're far too large for her to push open, and she's not very sure how dragons respond to someone knocking on their doors.

But then, worth a short, right? She raises a hand and knocks five times on the massive door.

With a deafening rumble of shifting ice, as if an entire glacier is moving by her, the doors slowly swing inwards, just enough to accommodate her. She raises her eyebrows, surprised at the precision and glances back at Kristoff and Sven. The two are standing by the sleigh, giving her apprehensive looks, and she waves at him, quite possibly the last non-dragon people she would ever see, before she turned and slipped into the castle.

* * *

The doors slide shut behind her, but she doesn't notice; the inner foyer is positively astounding. From the curved icy ceiling hangs a chandelier of outrageous design, an amazingly intricate mass of diamond shapes and sleek lines and glittery segments. It's the kind of thing an architect could only dream of. Along the sides of the main path, a light blue than the rest of the foyer, are huge ice statues of armoured knights and beautiful queens and imposing beasts, and they seem to throb from a slight pinkish light.

The statues and the chandelier give Anna hope; as she'd mentioned to Kristoff, an unintelligent creature could not have crafted such masterpieces, no matter what kind of magic it had. These were the works of an artist, not a brute. Of course, an artist could still be a sadistic wretch who delighted in suffering, but she preferred not to think about that.

The inner doors at the end of the foyer are thinner than the outer ones, bearing more intriguing snowflake designs upon them, and she quickly heads over to them; they're the only other doors in here, and it's pretty obvious that the dragon is not within this room. Managing to keep her footing, Anna reaches them and again knocks five times. It worked before, hopefully it would work again, and it did! The doors slid open, less noisy and imposing than the other pair, and she quickly steps in and-

"Oh wow." She breathes, eyes widening in awe.

This chamber is much, much bigger than the foyer, and rather than a smooth icy floor, it's a vast field of snow, firm and malleable under her feet and a much more stable floor than the other one. It glitters bright white and pale blue, and dotted all across the snowy landscape are kinds of different ice sculptures. There are knights and queens and monsters like in the foyer, but there is also trees and kings and castles and mountains and strange symbols and a huge tablet with runes carved into it. Dumbstruck, she slowly moves through the snow, her feet leaving subtle footprints behind her, taking it all in.

This chamber, so huge and expansive, reminds her of the ballroom back home, and she gets the strongest urge to just run around all over the place and scream at the top of her lungs, just be a kid again and lose herself into all this snow and this space and these statues.

But she has a job to do, she reminds herself, and she calls out, a bit tentative and unsure: "Hello? Ice Dragon? Are you here? Is anyone here?"

There's no answer. Perhaps the beast has gone hunting or flying again? That would be awkward, just waiting around here until it got back. Oh, what if it saw Kristoff and Sven at the entrance and it ate them?! What if she ended up waiting here so long she caught a cold and ended up overcome with sickness?! What if-

No, no, stop it, stop being paranoid. The dragon had to be in here, no-one had seen it flying off or anything, it might be in another room or something. So, gathering her courage, she set off across the snowy floor and called again: "Hello! Any dragons in here?! I am Princess Anna of Arendelle, and, and I demand an audience!"

No answer, and now the palace was seeming less magical and more eerie at this point, with her voice echoing around and no sign of any dragon anywhere. But at least the snow was nice, very nice. It was a very odd consistency, this snow; thick and malleable, probably easy to make snowmen with, yet very soft and gentle at the same time.

And the way it glittered, as if lots of tiny little stars were helping to form it! It was positively breath-taking, and a part of her wondered how such a dismissive creature who'd flood a whole kingdom in blizzards could craft such beautiful things. Anna paused on her walk, examining it with eager interest; while she was aware she had an important job to do, this seemed too good an opportunity to pass up.

Giggling a little bit, she began to scoop some of it up into a sphere, rolling it along with ease to increase its size. The snow seemed to practically read her mind, compacting together so easily and smoothly! Rolling it up to a suitable size, she repeated the procedure with another smaller one and picked it up, marvelling at how easily it held together and plopped it down onto the first one.

A third sphere was garnered and placed atop the others, and she carefully moulded it into a funny sloped face, poking eyes into it with a gloved finger and bemoaning the lack of sticks and coal to be used for arms and buttons, respectively. She adored building snowmen, always a popular pastime for her in previous winters when she'd been well enough, and passing up using magic snow to build one seemed like such a shame.

Another giggle as she observed her handiwork fondly. It was a small snowman, and she immediately christened it Olaf. She'd always liked that name, Olaf, and she often told herself if she ever had a son, she would call him Olaf. But for now, a snowman would do just-

One of the statues was sinking.

Anna squeaked in shock when the magnificent sculpture of the dancing queen began to sink into the snowy floor, sucked into the whiteness with terrifying speed. And all around her, the other decorations were also vanishing, the snow flurrying around them as they were buried beneath it.

And nearby, a mound of snow was beginning to rise up. Only it wasn't snow; particles pouring off the ascension, gleaming white scales emerged from beneath the floor, a burst of snow revealing large nostrils at the tip of an enormous head, topped with sharp horns that sparkled light blue with an icy layer. And then a flicker, and a gleaming sapphire eye revealed itself, and the black pupil contracted as it locked onto the stunned princess.

The dragon was here after all. All around her, more of the beast was emerging, the titanic frame of its torso rising up to the right of her, the long coils of a tail all around her, massive wings clinging to the body as thick legs pushed it upright and the head reared above her on a long neck, the intense blue eyes never once leaving her. It looked angry. It may even have looked hungry.

Princess Anna whimpered a little bit.

The Ice Dragon tilted its head slightly, a majestic and intimidating sight, observing her for a moment, before it grunted: "This is what they send to slay me now? A scared little princess? How low has your kingdom sunken, human, to believe you could succeed where trained warriors have failed?"

The dragon's voice is not quite what she expected; it is surprisingly soft, feminine, cool and collected, and its gender must be female to have such a tone. But make no mistake, there was a draconic influence to its worlds, a deep guttural undertone. The voice of a queen marred by the instincts of a predator, Anna might describe it.

But she can talk, that is so very much confirmed. The dragon can talk, quite eloquently at that, and she can clearly think and reason. And this gives Anna a hope that maybe she won't just end up devoured on the spot, that maybe she does have a chance, and so she gathers all of her courage and replies, shaking somewhat: "I-I am Princess A-Anna of Arendelle, dragon, and I-I have come to speak with you."

"You wish to speak to me." The dragon said flatly, as if this is something she has heard a hundred times before. Her head starts to lean towards the trembling human, her teeth bared every time she spoke, and Anna, intimidated, backs away. "You would drag yourself across the ice and through the snow to my palace purely to speak."

"Y-Yes!" She squeaks, realising that the dragon was backing her into the curvature of her tail, cutting off any chance of escape. "I-I just wanted to talk, that's all! I mean, look-" She draws the sword given to her and swiftly places it at her feet, raising her hands passively and moving away from the blade as the dragon's eyes narrow. "No weapon anymore, nothing to defend myself with, just me and my mouth, just wanting to talk!"

Fear is making her stammer, and stammering is no good to convince anyone of anything, never mind convincing the Ice Dragon to fix the weather. The dragon's gaze falls onto the sword, before disdainfully sucking it under the snow and the eyes flash back to her prey.

"Such folly. You think mere metal could have harmed me? You think that sword would have protected you, granted you an edge, should I have chosen to attack? Your knights in their armour with their shields and blades and spears did _nothing _to even annoy me, never mind cause me pain or damage, and yet you believe this single measly weapon may have protected you."

The dragon leans in yet closer, and the chill of her icy breathe washes over the princess, backed into the unrelenting scales of the beast's tail and quivering in terror as the beast whispers: "If you believe what you wish to say to me will be as effective as that sword in combat, I may as well devour you now and save myself any bother."

Anna has never felt more terrified in her life, trapped by this gigantic beast with her teeth mere metres away from her, and suddenly all the optimism and courage and determination that brought her here seems to have abandoned her to a grisly fate. But she steels herself as best she can and manages to exclaim: "If, if you're so f-fearless then, if swords and spears can't hurt you, why are you locking yourself into a giant ice castle in the mountains?"

The dragon seems to have expected pleas for mercy or something of the like, given the flicker of surprise in her eyes. A direct accusation against her power was out of the blue, but she regains herself and snorts disdainfully: "I am not driven by fear or preservation, human. I seek isolation purely because I have had enough trouble from your kind to last myself a lifetime. I craft myself castles to stay in, I seek out wastelands to convert into a home, and yet you humans continue to hound me like vultures after a lion, pestering and pecking me with your fragile little talons. I crave peace and your kind denies me it."

Anna gulps nervously, promptly realising exactly how much more difficult her job may be if this is what the beast has gone through, and squeaks: "I'm sorry, I really am sorry, that everyone just, just wants to fight you and kill you and, and stuff, but I'm not here to do that! I, I just wanted to… to negotiate with you! I just wanted to talk, okay? I, I'm not seeking glory or anything, I just want to talk."

"Negotiate." The dragon repeats, a slight touch of amusement now as if the very concept is but a foolish desire spouted by an ignorant child. "Hm, that's a concept I have not experienced for a long time. Very well then, human. I will humour your endeavour._ Negotiate."_

Granted the opportunity, she tentatively steps forward as the beast obligingly rears her head back to grant her some space, before she speaks: "I came to ask you… maybe even to beg you, to stop the winter. I don't know what you want in exchange, but… but please, just stop the winter. My kingdom is suffering, we're freezing and starving and we can't last much longer! I'm begging you to stop the winter!"

She may be imagining it, but she suddenly spies the tiniest trace of unease in the dragon's eyes. But it is gone in an instant, replace by a cruel disinterest.

"The winter never stops." The Ice Dragon replied, writing herself off as unfazed by the princesses' pleading or her peril with her cold tone. "It spreads from my wings and bathes the land in an eternal embrace. The snow and the ice is my life, my home, my power, so why would I ever wish to will it away?"

Anna is struck with a kind of fear, not the basic fear of being eaten by the dragon, but a dawning kind of fear brought by the comprehension of encroaching failure: "You… you can't?"

"I won't." The dragon corrects her sharply, her elegant tone annoyed now. "The winter is my comrade and I would not see it away purely because some tiny ape asks me to."

"But… but my kingdom is freezing." Anna whimpers, trying to find any kind of humanity or pity in the sapphire eyes. "We'll die if it doesn't stop."

"That is not my concern."

She's horrified at such disregard for the lives of her people, and with a righteous fury building itself up and shoving aside her fear, she shouts: "But that's not right! You can't, you can't just sit here and watch us die! You brought the winter to us, you're making us freeze to death, and you're just going to sit here and tell me you won't do anything about it?"

Irritated, the dragon snaps: "The lives of you humans is beneath my interest. If your pathetic kingdom is suffering so much, cannot bare to stay here any longer, then you can abandon your castle and houses and find refuge elsewhere_. _I am not forcing your people to stay here, I am not sticking their feet to the ground. You can pack away your kingdom and find new lands to inhabit, far away from me, never to trouble me again. If this winter bothers your people so much, you impudent little human, _then leave."_

Outraged by such disregard for Arendelle, Anna loses herself, forgets what kind of monster she is addressing, and furiously snaps back: "We can't just pack our things and move! The fjord is frozen, there's blizzards, some people can't make that kind of journey! Arendelle is our home, my home, and you're the one who's ruining it! You know what, maybe it's _you_ that should leave!-"

The dragon suddenly snarls at her, a thunderous sound that shakes the snow, shakes the walls and Anna tumbles backwards onto her behind as her very bones seem to shudder under the heavy sound. Caught off-guard by the sudden aggression, she stares up in shock at the dragon that towers over her as she thunders: "You dare to presume you can demand **me **of anything?! You do not command me, human, regardless of how many peasants grovel at your feet, no matter how many fat pastries and pigs your wretched servants deliver to your bed! Your sad little delusion of royalty has no power over me! Whatever crown sits on your head will not force me to obey!"

Anna is shaken upon the snow, curled up in a feeble attempt to shield herself as the beast continues, swept up in her tirade of fury: "I am the Glacial Queen! I am the Dragon of Winter! I am ice and snow and cold, and I am strong! You are weak, human, and you will never command me! **EVER!"**

The dragon's rage heaves itself through low growls from her maw, glaring viciously at the cowering human under her. Anna is momentarily overwhelmed by such a display and utterly still, before it becomes apparent that she hasn't been devoured or dragged under the snow. Slowly, taking in the dragon's words, taking in th efact she's still breathing and moving, she uncurls herself and murmurs: "P-people who do what they want j-just because they're stronger…. People who think they can do anything and g-get away with it… that's not powerful. That's... that's not a Queen."

She tilts her head up at the beast and musters every ounce of her defiance in as venomous a statement as she can manage: "That's just a _bully_."

The dragon pauses, perhaps surprised at the retort despite her display of fury, and she recoils from the human for a moment. A tad unsure, having honestly expected the beast to just rage some more or outright kill her after such a jab, Anna tentatively picks herself, cautiously watching the Ice Dragon in the hope that somehow the dragon's surprising passiveness indicated her response might have touched some trace of mercy within the beast's heart.

The dragon tilts her head, and her eyes fall upon Olaf, the snowman still standing despite her tantrum, and observes it for a moment. She exhales a breath of cold and turns her head back to the nervous princess.

She finally replies, her tone cold and distant: "I don't care what you have to say, human. I don't care whether your kingdom dies. I am not inclined to dissipate the winter, and I am not inclined to adhere to your standards of right and wrong. I have given you my ultimatum; either your people leave, or your people die. It makes no difference to me. This negotiation is over."

The dragon is sinking now, sinking under the snow just like all the ice statues, and Anna suddenly cries out, panicked and angered and horrified: "You can't do this! You can't just force all this onto us and not even care! You can't!"

The snow ripples, and the beast has vanished beneath it. She runs over to where her head was, falling to her knees upon the snow and furiously scrabbling at it, trying to dig out the dragon as she shouts: "No, no, come out, please! I'm begging you, don't do this! You can't make us die, you can't just hide from it! Come out! Come out and fix this, please! Please!"

But it's no use; the snow hardens, refuses to give under her desperate attempts at digging and her distressed pounding yields no results. The dragon has abandoned the conversation, and has by extension abandoned Arendelle to its frozen fate.

She's failed. She's failed her kingdom. They're doomed and she couldn't do anything to fix it.

* * *

Kristoff is quite relieved when he sees the princess emerging from the huge gates of the castle, tentatively sliding over the massive bridge towards him; the dragon must have been merciful then to have listened to her, let her live, and perhaps-

But as he and Sven move forward to greet her, he sees the tears spilling heavily down her cheeks, her eyes red and her cheeks pink, and her body utterly sagged by defeat. It didn't go well then.

"Princess Anna?" He asks softly, as she sweeps by him, ignoring his and Sven's offering gestures for some kind of comfort. "What happened?"

"I… I d-don't want to t-talk about it…" The poor girl hiccups, furiously wiping away her persistent tears and burying her head in her scarf. "Just take me home…"

He exchanges a glance with Sven, and the reindeer gives a soft whimper of pity. The dragon didn't listen then. The dragon wasn't going to stop the winter. Sighing, the ice harvester gently pats his faithful friend on the head and murmurs, half-heartedly attempting a joke: "Well, guess we better find a new job then."

Sven just huffs, unamused given the situation, and with that, the trio embarks down the mountain. They don't talk throughout the journey, and Anna just curls up in her seat, lost in her grief and failure.

But Princess Anna is a young woman of many traits, and persistence is one of them.

When they finally reach the castle, her tears have gone, her expression has shifted into zealous determination, her grief has shifted into conviction and she has only two sentences for her relieved parents who sweep her into her arms as soon as she's within range;

"I'm going back there again. I'll make her fix this no matter what!"


End file.
